Means for promoting the discharge of molten products from a furnace or other apparatus.



.I. H. REID- MEANS FOR PROMOTING THE DISCHARGE OF MOLTEN PRODUCTS FROM A FURNACE OR OTHER APPARATUS.

' I APPLICATION FILED DEC. 23. I914.

1,227,067. Patented May 22, 1917 a m I? a 7/ 7/ 9 I 4;!) 44L 4 W 2 g [NI/ENTOR I BY WM' ATTORNEY 1 tation of apparatus of such substances as chlll quickly To all whom it may concem:

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Be it known that 1, JAMES HENRY Ran), a citizen of theUnited States, residing at 352 Mulberry avenue, "in the city of Newark, county of Essex, State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Means for Promoting the Discharge of Molten Products from a Furnace or ot er Apparatus, of which the following is a' specification.

TlllS invention relates to devices and means for maintaining, promoting, or augmenting fusion of fusible substances at the discharge .or tap-hole of a furnace or other apparatus and' has for its object'the facilifree discharge from the furnace or or are of sluggish flow, such as .slags, carbids, orother substances, which are prone to clog up the outlet or discharge opening, and

comprlses the combination with a furnace or fusion apparatus of. a means situated or located within operative distance of or operating through, the tap-hole or discharge the material flowing therefrom is augmented or its fusion promoted or maintained in a fused or molten condition by supplemental action of a heat delivering means, such as oxyacetylene flame from a burneror through the action of electricity directly or indirectly in combination or conjunction with the furnace.

As an manner whereby its operation is performed, the combination of electrical means for maintaining. fusion of the discharge fused or molten material from a blast furnace will be taken as an example, reference being rent through the directed to the accompanying drawing which illustrates one form of adaptation or application of the invention in-which,

Figure 1 represents a vertical section of a blast furnace showing in combination elecfor maintaining, promoting or augmenting fusion of: I discharging substances, by vertically disposed electrodes adapted to act through the flowlng material between them' and an opposite electrode situated in the trough of the furnace,

Fig. 2 is a similar view showing hor1zontal means for disposing the electrical curflowing through the discharge duct between electrodes situated in the outer trough and the trical means illustration of the invention and.

material or Patented May 22, 1917.

' Appfloationfiled December 28,1914. Serial no. 879,248.

innler part of the furnace such as the hearth, an

Fig. 3 shows a detail of the vertical electrodes and the electrode situated in the trough of the furnace, and means for regulatlng and adjusting the electrodes in the fore-hearth as shown in Fig. 1.

Similar numerals corresponding parts in the various views.

Referring to the drawing the numeral 1 represents a furnace wall or body provided wlth the lining 2. The upper part of the furnace is provlded with the charge gallery 3 and the feed and control device 4. The interior of the furnace is so constructed as to provide spheres or zones of various diameter whereby the reduction,transformation, or preparation of the material to be operated on is treated, comprising the throat 5, the body of the furnace 6, the boshes 7, and the twyers 11.. The furnace is also provided with the blast main 8 communicating with the twyers through the air conduit 9, and is also provided with the tap-hole 21 and filler 22, and'also with the outlet 24 at its upper end. The wall of the furnace is supported on the pillars 10 which act as supports therefor, and the inner lower portion of the furnace is provided .with a hearth 20 from which the tap-hole extends and communicates with the trough 17 which trough is rovided with an electrically conductive lin- 1ng constitut'ng an electrical terminus or an electrode, when. communicating with a generator 18 through suitable electrical connections with op osite electrodes 12 which are provided with means 13 whereby they may beadjusted as to position and distance by means of the cogged feed 14 the revolution of which causes the electrode to advance or -recede through the sleeve guideway 15.

The tap-hole 21 of the furnace is regulated in size by the filler 22 in accordance with the character of material to be made or employed. In Fig. 1 is shown vertical arcing means for maintaining or promoting fusion or heating of the discharging material in which the electrodes 12 supply the current to theopposite electrode 16 situated invthe trough 17 The electrodes are adjustable and regulatable by the feed device '13 and 14 through the sleeve 15, which device is more particularly shown in detail in Fig. 3. The electrical current'is supplied of reference represent by a suitable generator such "as shown at 18 Fig. 2 and controlled by switch 19.

In Fig. 2 the heating'device constitutesv an electrode situated on the floor 0r hearth of the furnace which electrode is indicated by the numeral 23 and an opposite electrode 16 in the trough 17 so that the current pames through the molten material passing out of the furnace through the taphole 21 and heats the same by electrical resistance to the current passing through it between the interior electrode 23 and the exterior electrode 16 thereby promoting the fusion and maintaining the material in a free flowing condition.

The form of furnace illustrated and described viz. a blast furnace, is shown merely to illustrate how an invention including'the device for maintaining, promoting or augmenting the fusion of the materlal at the 1 point of discharge may be combined forming a new construction capable of accomplishing new and useful results in overcoming the choking of the discharge by chilling or. freezing of the product but any type of furnace or apparatus may be employed, and any form or character of supplemental heater situated in operative relation to the tap-hole to promote fusion may be employed in the combination so long as there remains a unity of members and combination of I parts capable of co-acting or cooperating in such a manner as will augment or promote fusion and maintenance thereof of discharging material at the point of discharge or within operative distances thereof broadly, and byheat generated by combustion or ented by electrical heating devices.

he electrodes as shown in Flg. 3 are not only adjustable in anupward and down-v ward direction but can be moved inward and The products of combustion or other volatile or gaseous products or by-products driven 0 during the operation of the furnace are discharged through the outlet 24 at the upperpart of the furnace into a fine, condenser, or other receptacle or conduit. A blast of air to support combustion when combustion heat is desired 'is introduced through the twyers 11 as desired and the fused material formed or produced accumulates on the hearth 20 from which it may be withdrawn from time to time through the tap-hole 21 by removing a plug therefrom.

The heating of the material being discharged from the apparatus may be accomplished by any suitable means 1n combination with the furnace or apparatus located or situated within heat dellvering or forming distance of the tap-hole or discharge duct, either by combustion such as an oxy acetylene burner or specifically by electricity as herein specifically claimed, and the electricity employed may be of any suitable kind or character capable ofaccomplishing the desired results and employed or implied in any suitable way either by arc, resistance or other manner.

Having now described my invention .what

I claim as new and desire to secure by Let- I ters Patent is 1. In a furnace, the combination of a discharge duct forming a tap-hole thereof, a trough extending from said duct, an electrode situated within the furnace, another electrode situated in the trough exterior of the furnace, whereby the molten material in the tap-hole while flowing therethrougli completes the electrical circuit.

2. Ina furnace, the combination of a discharge duct forming a tap-hole thereof, a trough extending in a line of the duct, an electrode situated entirely within the furnace, and another electrode m'tuated in the trough and.exteriorly of the furnace wall, whereby the molten material in the tap-hole -while flowing therethrough completes the electrical circuit.

3. In a furnace, the combination of a discharge duct forming a tap-hole thereof, a trough extending from said duct in a line therewith, opposite electrodes so disposedwith reference to the tap-hole and the trough that an electrical circuit will be completed between the electrodes by means of molten material while flowing through the tap-hole.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses;

JAMESIHENRY REID.

Witnesses i i S. P. WITHERJLL, Jr., PHILIP LOFF. 

